CABINET NOTES: The Cabinet invited the Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) to present his Country Report on Antigua and Barbuda, and the Bank’s Report on the economic performance of the ECCU region, to make projections and recommendations for strengthening the state’s and the region’s economic performance.
For two hours, the Governor of the Bank held an interactive session with the Cabinet, addressing a wide range of issues that hinge on good economic performance in Antigua and Barbuda, and throughout the other ECCB member countries.
The Governor declared that resilience is the watch word that all the member countries must adopt. They must in fact “bounce forward” following every crisis.
He noted, for example, that Antigua and Barbuda’s health system has been significantly strengthened in the post-Covid era.
There are now more nurses and doctors, medical personnel, hospital beds, poly-clinics and other health infrastructure available than before the pandemic.
The Governor noted that the Antigua and Barbuda gross domestic product (GDP) stands at 5 Billion EC dollars.
What, he asked, would it take to double the size of the economy? What would it take to double income in Antigua and Barbuda?
The governor noted that while 60% of adults in the United States invest in financial instruments, only 4% of the Antigua and Barbuda people invest in financial instruments.
While savings in Antigua and Barbuda exceed 2 Billion EC Dollars, bank interest rates are at 2%, which is lower than the rate of inflation.
More Antiguans and Barbudans need to invest in financial instruments than is now taking place.
He noted that inflation is declining; in the United States; latest figures show inflation at 4%. Antigua and Barbuda imports inflation which tracks the rate in the United States, such that inflation stands at about 5%.
Nevertheless, the National Debt-to-GDP-ratio has been declining; the acceptable ratio is 60%.
The Governor of the Central Bank and his team will make the rounds to the Bankers Association, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, to the Barbuda Council and others before departing on the weekend.
